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Newt Gingrich: John McCain attacks on Rand Paul ‘sad’

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is slamming Sen. John McCain for criticizing Sens. Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, saying it’s “sad” for someone who was once known as a maverick in Congress.

“What I find sad about Sen. McCain’s recent comments both to Ted Cruz, when Ted Cruz was frankly raising legitimate questions [about Benghazi] and with Rand Paul, is, you know, when I first knew John McCain in the House — he was a maverick. In the Senate, for years, he was a maverick,” Gingrich said Thursday on Fox News.

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McCain: Paul's drone concern 'totally unfounded'

He continued: “Of everybody I know in the Senate, I didn’t know anybody who had a better record of bucking the leadership, doing what he thought mattered, marching to his own drummer. And I think that it’s unfortunate. But I think frankly it doesn’t hurt Ted Cruz and it doesn’t hurt Rand Paul — it hurts John McCain. The country is moving on, we’re in a new era, people know that these are legitimate questions.”

McCain criticized Paul on Thursday, calling the Kentucky Republican’s’s nearly 13-hour filibuster questioning the White House on its domestic drone policy a “disservice.” McCain has also sparred with Cruz, a freshman tea partier with a reputation in the Senate for being outspoken.